Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Hot Dogs, Arabic, and Anxiety

Well, I said I'd tryyyyyy to be better at posting!  But I finally have a few silent moments to share my life with you.  Well, silent except for the lady bug flying all over my room.  Excuse me, ladybug, but why are you flying so much?  They are just not aerodynamic creatures.

Two weeks ago, my boyfriend was back in town!  He was able to come in Thursday night, so we had plenty of time to play in the city.  We rode the Capital BikeShare around the monuments one day, and went to the American History Smithsonian and did some other typical touristy stuff, including getting hot dogs from the street carts, which is my favorite thing to do when I'm traipsing around sight seeing!  I love living in a city where I can "vacation" in my own "backyard."  (In reality, if I were to vacation in my legitimate backyard, I'd get eaten by mosquitoes and bored.)

Look at that stud!

And here I am, just practicing being Lance Armstrong

The most delicious burger shack in DC! 
The weekend ended with he and I "grabbing lunch and drinks" at a local gay bar called Freddie's Beach Bar.  Yes, we were the only straight people in there.  No, my boyfriend did not mind.  No, he isn't homosexual.  Yes, there were rainbows.  And I put our plans in quotations because they were just that... plans.  The actual series of events went more like this: I eat practically nothing because I'm strangely not hungry, then drink 10 beers, then four hours later we stumble home and I wake up at 1am still in my clothes and still very drunk.  Let's just say that while that afternoon was a blasty-blast, getting up to take him to the airport and go to work Monday morning had me very unhappy.  Woof.  It was not a pretty sight.  

Since then, it's been the typical stuff.  Going out on weekends, working all week, blah blah blah.  I've gotten really overwhelmed with anxiety lately, and now that it's finally caught up with me I'm going to work hard this week to kick it.  It's just been one thing after another popping up and demanding priority in my life.  

I'm also trying to learn Arabic.  And when I say that, I mean, I did four lessons of Rosetta Stone and I have no freaking clue what they're saying.  At least with Spanish, I can use word stems and context clues and conjugation endings to figure it out. Oh, yeah, and the letters look "normal."  What is Arabic even written in?  Well, Arabic, obviously, but... okay, I'm just going to stop right there.  It looks like doodles.  That's it. 

Alright, well, I'm in the mood for a really hot shower and a cold glass of ice water and some sleep.  (Warning, I may be morphing into a grandma).  

Love,
N


Monday, August 6, 2012

Hello There, It's Been a While!

Hi lovely readers!  Well, those of you that are still left!!  I'm back!  I know, you were getting worried, weren't you?  Well, I have a lot to update you on!

It's been a hectic couple of months, but things are finally settling down... I guess... in actuality, I think things are getting even busier, but I have some peace of mind so it's way more bearable.  It's crazy how much of an emotional impact not having your own "space" and "home" can be.  It was such a test of my patience and my character, but I think I'm a better and more enlightened person from the experience, even if only slightly.

But... we have a house!  After a month straight of disappointing searches, we finally found the PERFECT humble abode for the next couple of years.  

It's so cute!  I just uploaded the back yard, because I don't know how to blur out the address.  
Of course, new house meant new furniture, and that meant IKEA, and that meant having to read these horrendous "directions."  Woof.  It took my roommate and I six whole hours to put together a bed and a dresser.  Obnoxious.

 Now that we're getting settled in, though, I've been able to concentrate on the more enjoyable parts of life.  And update you on the fun times that happened pre-move that I just never got around to posting about.  I have a 15 minute door-to-door commute to work, instead of the 45+ drive before we moved.  Thank you, Pentagon City.

Anyways, I didn't get around to posting the America-themed shorts I made for the 4th of July, but considering it's over a month later, you can just look at photos of them on me.  That's a good compromise.


The boyfriend came up to see me the weekend after that.  We did all the typical touristy things, like seeing the monuments (in 78435-degree weather, woof) and eating hot dogs from the street carts and visiting the Smithsonian museums.  He thought the Smithsonian was just one museum.  He was incredibly surprised when I told him there were actually like, 20 different ones.  We saw like, every single inch of Air and Space (except the planets, which I really wanted to see, but this was his weekend) and the new Propaganda exhibit at the Holocaust museum.  

Gettysburg Address

I love hot dogs from street carts.  Guilty pleasure. 

My favorite monument!



Oh, that last photo is from our one-year-anniversary dinner.  We went to an adorable Italian bistro in DuPont Circle and I discovered my love for Stella beers.  It was cute and romantic and precious and perfect.

He's actually coming back this upcoming weekend, so clearly I'm late on posting.  I'm looking forward to a more relaxing time with him, and being able to make him dinner in our kitchen and whatnot.  I'll wait while you go vomit at how cute we are.

Okay, back?  Perfect.  I guess my only other noteworthy tidbit was my first-paycheck-present.  I decided that since I have a real job, I could treat myself to something I would normally never buy for myself.  I actually slacked and waiting until my third paycheck, but this shiny new Michael Kors purse was my splurge to myself.  And yes, this photo was taken in my office.


And, my job is going great, thanks for asking!  (Oh, you didn't?  Well, my blog, my topics...)  Classes start in a month and so things are starting to pick up and be crazy busy.  I would rather it be busy than not, though.  Today flew by and I had to make myself leave when I realized I had stayed an hour late and just about everyone else had left.  I'm starting to feel more and more like I "belong" there... and fewer people think I'm an intern, so that's a plus.  No, seriously... it's been an issue.  

Alright, there, now you're caught up to speed on my life.  No more complaining.  I'll try and be better, I promise.  Happy Monday!

Love,
N